AndreiN00B - Too late dude, raise your flag and prepare for ship war!
OBSERVER01 - I'm happy that someone actually like Garnet. Honestly I dislike making OC taking center stage, but it's pretty necessary to establish character's backstories outside canon boundaries. That said, some people may notice that my OC isn't really OC, but random characters from other franchise.
And yes, Papa Schnee is a big dick, but I'm not going to make him mustache twirling evil.
FFReader123 - I'm very impatient guy who can't even be arsed to wait for my beta, so, gomen.
All-seeing Hunter - Thanks, honestly I never see why characters getting laid is a big cool thing. In fact, it'll be probably one of the more important issues Jaune has to deal with, because he wanted something MORE than sex, that he never get so far. Also, Garnet is less a mentor and more a Senpai to him, their actual Mentor will show up sometimes in the future.
Also, I'm going to use new forms of scene transition, so tell me if you dislike it and I will change it back.
Atlas Academy Main Hall, 09:50 A.M.
By the time Weiss and Jaune arrived in the main hall, it was already packed densely by the other student applicants. Though each and every single of them passed through the entrance exam either through school transcripts or practical test, the second placement exam called initiation will take place soon.
And with the way Summer described it, it will be overwhelmingly difficult compared to his practical test few days ago. The details are, unsurprisingly classified, but the gist of what he heard from various sources, it's basically 'throw the student into wilderness and let them find their way to survive.'
Well, Jaune knew wilderness, the best wilderness, Vacuo wilderness are insanely dangerous, and yet he survived.
He's more afraid by the cold weather than anything else, because he's not accustomed to this weather. Despite under the same stream of hot wind from the east, the city of Atlas still frozen all year round by the combination of altitude and latitude. He shudder to think what's the weather beyond the mountainous area would be, it must be deathly cold.
Still, if Garnet's words were true, Grimm are much, much slower in Atlas than anywhere else. The weather affected them worse than it did to the humans.
I just need to be careful.
You can do this Jaune.
"-ne... Jaune?" Weiss' beautiful voice brought him back to reality, "Are you nervous?"
"Y-yeah, I never fought in the snow before. I'm scared, what if I slipped? I've fought lots of grimm before, and I knew very well what it means to waste three seconds from lying to standing." He said, sweat dripped from his chin, "Sorry if that sounds pathetic to you."
"It really is pathetic." Weiss definitely didn't spare any blow in her criticism, and yet, she smiled confidently as she poked his chest. "But you're not the only one. And unlike majority of these people, you actually have combat experience. At least you didn't get knocked out by the first grimm you fight, like I did."
"Uhuh. Of all people?" Jaune muttered in disbelief. Weiss, of all people, lost against the first Grimm she fought? Who would believe that?
"You don't believe me, do you?" Weiss glared at him and pointed the scar over her left eyes, her voice seems to be... mellow, at least more than usual. "This, this is the proof Jaune. The proof of my humiliating defeat. You still want to question it?"
Jaune raised his hands to calm her down, looks like Jaune weren't the only one with self esteem issues. He don't know whether he should be glad or worried about it. Still, Weiss was unfair to compare the enemy she fought and average grimm, and it bothered him. "You mean the possessed mecha-knight? Penny was no match for it alone, that thing would straight up kill me, I don't see why you would be so concerned-"
Weiss hissed and kicked his shin, much to his confusion. It was barely hurt, and he's fine with that, but the fact that she stormed away, he was not.
"Great job, idiot, now she hates your guts." Jaune sighed, "Me and my shoe-chewing mouth. Now where I can find another nice and quirky girl to talk to?"
The he realized how horribly selfish that sounded and slapped his own face. He really, really need to stop putting his mouth before his brain. "No, Jaune, you need to find Weiss, apologize and then things will be fine. Things will be fine..."
"Jaune!"
Jaune almost made a neckbreaking turn and shouted back, "Oh, hi, Ruby, you're finally here."
They shared a high five, or low five from Jaune himself, thanks to the staggering difference of height between them.
"Oh God I thought I was late, or something. That was really, really awful. I got lost, and my mom disappeared... again. I even crashed on this really pretty boy and-" Ruby frantically told him, stopped for a second then asked. "I'm not late aren't I?!"
Jaune blinked in confusion, looked at his scroll, and shook his head. "Just in time."
"Where are the others?" Ruby widened her eyes, curious.
"Haven't see Penny yet, and Weiss must be here... somewhere." Jaune's smile turned upside down, "Let's try to find Weiss."
Ruby tailed behind him, somewhat nervous. "Huh? What happened?"
"I might have said something insensitive." Jaune grinned, "Either way her mood is a little bad so careful about what you'd say."
Ruby didn't really understand what happened, but maybe she should keep that in mind. Her brother always said, first impression might not be everything but it definitely worth a lot of things.
Speaking of which she should write a letter for him and Yang later, they should already be in Beacon around this time, maybe even beginning their initiation too.
However, through Jaune and Ruby combed through the nearest crowd, they couldn't find Weiss anywhere. Meanwhile, the opening ceremony will began shortly and they decided to stop, or else causing unwarranted attention. Still, Jaune stumbled on a couple of familiar faces at last.
"...Ciel? Penny?"
"Sa-lu-ta-tion." Penny saluted stiffly as her neck bent in such sharpness it's almost inhuman, "You made it, at last."
"Uh, morning, Penny." Ruby smiled awkwardly, she will need more time to adjust with this one friend.
"Please be quiet, ceremony will begin soon." Ciel said coldly as she tapped her watch to make emphasis, which scared the three other students into silence. As the commotion within the student body died down, their eyes locked on the elevated stage of the main hall where Ironwood and what looks like the teachers body stood from one end to another.
"I see you students have gathered here." Ironwood said without even slightest bit of courtesy, clearly to intimidate the students into quietness. "When I came here I expected aspiring warriors and heroes, but the most I could see were nothing but youngsters who don't know what they're doing."
Ouch.
"Your time in Combat school was nothing but a foundation. A foundation that you will find extremely precious, and you will regret that you couldn't do so much more back then. But make no mistake, it's better to live and regret than to die, and today, your skill and knowledge will be put on a deadly test to determine whether you are ready for this academy. Those who are not ready, please step back."
The deafening silence couldn't possibly be more clearer than now, people would've heard a needle drop at the other end of the room.
"Good." Ironwood stepped back, and then, the woman who Jaune and others recognize as Weiss' mother stepped forward, "Initiation will begin right at 12.00 AM in the airport after lunch hour. Until then, you are free to use any facilities in Atlas academy for preparation. Whether it's acquiring extra gear and ammunition, gathering more information, or resting and preparing your mental and physique for the ensuing hardship. Feel free to ask for help from any of Academy staff and military personnel you find around. For now, dismiss."
"Did she said free ammo?" Jaune salivated in response and licked his lips.
"Sounds like free ammo for me." Ruby nodded with her eyes brightened, wonder what kind of ammunition she can find in the countries that lead the most advanced dust research on the planet.
"Technically it's paid by government subsidies." Ciel corrected them, "Not that it matters, this entire academy is government funded."
Jaune wonder if stating the obvious is Ciel's hobby.
"Well, shall we go to the armory?" Penny proposed.
"I would like to but..." Jaune looked around, "I'm worried about Weiss."
"You don't have to." Weiss told him, as she walked from the crowd, "I'll go to library first, there's something I need to read about, just to be sure."
"Weiss! Good morning!" Ruby waved her hands cheerfully, "Nice to see you around."
"It's not nice for me." Weiss snarled, "But putting that aside, my point still stand."
Almost everyone aside from obviously oblivious Penny could see how Ruby visibly shrunk a little, "Oh, okay then."
Even Weiss couldn't bear the sight, and mellowed down a little. It's not like Ruby is being annoying or anything, and that response was completely unwarranted. "Find me in the library when you're done."
Ruby and Jaune shared a glance and grinned, with newfound confidence Ruby jumped, "Alright then, let's go!"
As the three girls went their way to the direction of the armory, Jaune stood for a moment and softly called.
"Weiss, I'm sorry for saying such dumb things." He said, "But... my mother once said this: Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metric or form of measure. And all of it is irreplaceable. I'm not sure what she meant but... I feel I should say it."
Weiss' eyes widened in shock for a moment, but then, her expression became much calmer. Somehow, that phrase seems exceedingly familiar. Something that Weiss heard long, long time ago.
Ah right.
Her mother, that is, the one who gave birth to her and her siblings.
Somehow, these words touched her more than she wanted.
"I wouldn't pretend to understand things I don't understand, and I might say ignorant things that might hurt you." Jaune said to her earnestly, "But if you need someone to lend their ears, I'll be there."
Weiss rolled her eyes aside in embarrassment, and then coughed twice to regain firmer grasps of her usual voice. "Alright then, now go. We don't want you to ran out of ammo in the middle of initiation, do we?"
Jaune nodded and dashed away, free from burden of worries. He picked his absolutely massive weapon bag, easily as long as he himself tall, and probably weighed more than her as person. Yet, he carried them so lightly it almost amazing.
Weiss turned her back and left the hall with a smile.
[TO SHINE IN MEDIOCRITY]
The Story of Atlas Hunter Academy
By
ZeroXSEED
Chapter 06 - Unbalanced
Atlas Academy Library, 10:15 A.M.
Truthfully, Weiss still felt worried. Combat school was good, and she just happened to be one of the most skilled students of her year. But everything they taught her is the basics of basics, they don't really teach the practicals of fighting solidified hate incarnate. The scar on her eye felt numb again as she remembered her first fight against the possessed knight. It was a solid proof that her achievement at Alsius, no matter how high, is irrelevant in real combat.
But she wouldn't give up to her fear.
Ironwood was right. It's better to live in regret than die in vain. She regretted it, and she will learn from it.
I just need to be careful.
You can do this Weiss.
And so, she began to recite her knowledge quietly with eyes closed, only sometimes she open her eyes to peek at the holographic screen of library's computer.
She remembered them all, to a T. That's good, now to make sure she didn't suffer fear-induced amnesia...
"It's rare to see people actually reading something in a library." A blue haired young man sat beside her and open the console, opening the exact same information as Weiss did. The information about Grimm.
"It's rarer to see people reading quietly." Weiss said in sour note, that unwarranted greeting seriously broke her tempo, "If you know what I mean."
"I know what you mean, like the ladies over there." The brown-skinned man nonchalantly presented the people across their position, completely missed her sarcasm. Weiss couldn't see clearly, but she could see a blond head bobbed up and down in distress, while an orange-haired girl in twin tails bounced around her loudly. "Oh c'mon, don't give up just yet."
"That besides the point." Weiss twitched.
"The name is Neptune, Neptune Vasilas, from Mistral. I apologize if I bothered you, I desperately need some pointers."
"Sure, Neptune." Though he began with a bad start, Weiss do like studious people. "What I can help you with?"
"May I know your name, snow angel?"
Snow... angel? Really? That's the best he could muster?
And yet, Weiss could feel blood rushed through her veins, slowly drawn rose colored streaks around her cheek. The way he sat, the way he looked at her, and his smile, they're charming, to put it modestly. The man oozed confidence. And Weiss really, really like men with confidence. Unlike her scraggly childhood acquaintance who keep drowned himself in self-doubt, this Mistrali young lad knows who he's dealing with.
"I'm Weiss."
"Weiss, what a beautiful name, fair and white as Snow. It's suit you well."
Weiss had trouble breathing. If she stay with him just five minutes longer, she might just lose it. And just like any self-respecting Schnee worth their name, that's a big problem. Real, big, problem.
No, Weiss, you didn't came here to flirt. Okay maybe you can, but later.
After initiation perhaps.
If I survived that is.
"Thank you. Can we at least get back to the topic at hand?" Weiss requested awkwardly.
"Sure, I want to ask about-"
"GAH WHY ARE THESE INFORMATION SO CONFUSING TO READ?!" The blond girl across the table yelled, her clear blue eyes gleamed from all the moisture she accumulated from holding back her tears. "Isn't there something like Grimm 101 for dummies?"
Weiss glared and then stood, quickly fetch the book in question and threw it on the table.
"At the very least you COULD try to find it yourself, now, please be quiet."
"Thank you." The girl grinned, "I'm shocked you could find them so fast."
For some reason, her grin and expression looked exceedingly familiar. But Weiss was too pissed to think about it. Weiss pointed at the racks, labelled 'Entry subjects'. Obviously, it's filled to the brim with books that newcomer would easy to learn about.
"Good, now you could go back to being lovey-dovey with the cyanide handsome." The orange haired girl declared with a smile so wide Weiss wondered how it could even be humanly possible, and her little fangs gleamed under the library light. "Or you could get a room somewhere instead, this is library not host club, Yanno?"
Weiss gritted her teeth, until she noticed the tail hanging from the girl's behind. Weiss snorted uncharacteristically, "I don't want to hear that from a loud and motormouth faunus."
The orange haired girl blinked, and then grinned again. "What's with me being a faunus has anything to do with me being loud, ice queen?"
Weiss feigned ignorance and looked aside, uncaring. "Nothing. This is library, please be quiet."
"Girls, this is neither the time nor place." Neptune said as he subtly got between them, just in case something violent happened. And boy, don't Neptune knew about it? Angry teens and aura-enhanced martial arts always spell bad things. "Let's just study together, okay?"
"Psssh. Don't be a nerd." The catty faunus snorted, "What's next, studying quietly with nary a word spoken?"
"I prefer being called intellectuals, thank you very much." Neptune refuted, "The name is Neptune-"
"Neon Katt." The faunus girl said, "I'm from eastern Atlas, nice to meet you Nep. Also, cool boots."
"Thank you. And this is Weiss." Neptune winked.
Eastern Region, though originally wasn't part of Atlas territory, it was later claimed and absorbed into the kingdom thanks to combination of newly discovered natural resources and continuously growing population eager to traverse new possibilities. In other words, eastern territory is a symbol of Atlas' military and economic might, able to fend of Grimm despite lesser amount of natural defenses than western Atlas.
Unsurprisingly, most of Atlas' faunus population also made their home in Eastern region. As Faunus got one of the worst treatment over here in Atlas, any chance for them to make a better life is better than nothing...
"Well, Jenny, it's yer turn."
The blond girl stood, pretty much towering over Weiss by over a head tall despite Weiss being the one on Platform shoes. It startled Weiss a little, indeed, the girl probably about as tall as Jaune.
Scratch that, the girl IS Jaune, or not, since Weiss could see her breastplate hiding what looks like sizable chest. And yet, those blond hair, innocent sets of blue eyes, and silly grin, couldn't be much more similar than it is already.
They're practically gender counterpart of each other.
"The name is Jeanne, Jeanne Arc-"
Weiss finally managed to connect the dots. "Sweet, short, rolls off the tongue. Lads love it?" The silvery white haired heiress asked rhetorically.
"Wait, how do YOU know that?" Jeanne balked.
Then a pair of lioness ears popped out from the blond's head, a sign of her being startled. For the most part, the length and thickness of her hair obscured them unless something made them stood upright.
And Weiss could only curse her fate louder inwardly as Weiss slammed her palm on her own forehead.
Goodness, why?!
Atlas Academy Armory, 10:15 A.M.
With the arrival of new students, the armory was packed tightly by people who tried to acquire something for the upcoming initiation exam. For the most part, they could find what they requested with ease. And so the traffic never clog up.
But there's always exceptions to the rule.
"What do you mean you don't have the ammo?" Ciel sharpened her eyes, "I thought Academy's armory also tied to the military logistic and arsenal supplies?"
The armory staff shrugged, "Not a single record in history show someone who actually use medium autocannon rounds for their personal weapon. If it's just grenades or rockets we have plenty. We even have this stockpile of Denel 20mm shorts." He said as he put a couple of massive rounds on the table, "That and Vulcan rounds are the heaviest cartridges we have right now."
The other staff jokingly commented, "Besides, can you imagine the size of that weapon? Sounds like someone is overcompensating."
And the staff members laughed. Their voice remains skeptical, indeed. Jaune didn't just ask some light autocannon rounds like 20mm Vulcan or Hispano, he asked for something substantially larger, which just absurd to even think about.
Which to be fair, Jaune didn't bring his gun along, he left it in weapon locker. Still, for them to look down on huntsman-in-training like that... almost unthinkable. Ciel consider hunters to be on a whole another level in Atlas hierarchy. And what they did was extremely disrespectful.
If she's angry about it, she didn't show it well.
"It's okay, Ciel, I still have the older ammo I bought from the market." Jaune said, "Just finish your business so we can move on."
"Even so-"
"Is there a problem?" A strong and firm woman's voice called, it was rather low in volume, and yet, the way she put emphasis seems to frighten the academy staffs in vicinity. A woman somewhere in the 20s, dressed in customized Atlesian army uniform, that was white coat with blue trim.
Uniform of Atlesian Specialist, hunter in service of Atlesian Military.
"Ma'am." They saluted, despite their shaky hands. "This first year student is asking for BK-27 cartridge, we don't have it at the moment."
"Are you telling me the third most common gunship and air defense weapon we have doesn't have ammo?" the woman frowned, that expression scared the staffs into half-death state from the sheer terror alone. "I don't care if you stole it from the Army munition storage, fetch it now." The woman still, somehow, kept her voice calm and collected, despite the sheer rage projected from her eyes.
It even seemingly disturbed the perpetually composed Ciel, while Jaune himself was scared shitless.
"YES MAAM."
And the two armory staffs quickly dashed for their lives, and possibly career. Either way, it's dangerous to raise their voices against Atlesian specialist like that.
The specialist looked back at Jaune, her stiff face look much softer. "My apologies for the inconvenience. It would be a shame for Atlas, of all academies, fail to provide combat logistic support provided to it's students. Especially you, Jaune Arc." The specialist smiled, "General Ironwood had high hopes for you."
"He did?" Jaune twitched, seriously though, as if he need another mental burden to carry...
Other people would be proud, but not him.
"He really did, so please, don't make him disappointed." She nodded, then looked at Penny and Ciel. "That goes for all of you."
"Thank you very much, ma'am." Penny, Ciel and Jaune all saluted in respect. And with that, the female Atlesian Specialist left.
"I'm done!" Ruby said when she finished her share and carry the rationed ammo on a military green can the size of her own stomach, completely ignorant to what happened just then. "I'm lucky they got so many variety."
The red-hooded girl soon enough preoccupied with refilling all of her spare magazines with various type of ammo, and attached a magnetic symbol on their surface so she didn't mistook one type of ammo for the others.
Ciel hung elongated bags on her belt, each almost reach her knees, and there are four of them. Meanwhile, the empty spaces between long bags straps were filled by a pair of smaller, boxier machine gun ammo bags on each sides and four grenade pouch on her bag. For the final touch, she wore a harness that held a small field bag on her back, probably holding something important like ration or medical supplies.
Overall, just like Jaune, she seems to prefer militaristic approach to apparel. The difference is of course, Ciel prefer her gears dark blue, darker than the color of her skirt and Beret. She also pack herself rather light, with her only visible weapon being her trusty assault rifle that she left in her locker. The rest pretty much blend with the rest of her clothes.
This in contrast to Jaune's mixture of dark green and light tan, the usual Vacuo militia gear color.
"What about you Penny?" Ruby asked.
"I use standard battery pack, so, don't worry." Penny said as she took multiple power cells of various sizes and shoved them in a small backpack.
"Cold climate of Atlas will help immensely with the cooling system of directed energy weapon." Ciel said, approvingly even. "Though depends on the weather you might not be able to use them at all. This is why Atlesian Army still kept their stockpile of conventional rifles, aside from standard issue beam rifle in service."
"My apologies for the wait." The armory staffs came, seemingly exhausted from carrying all the ammunition Jaune need, a whole crate of 60 rounds. "Would this amount be fine? Unfortunately we can only find frangible ammo to spare, they're running out of high explosives at the moment."
"That should be fine. Thank you." Jaune politely bowed, and then nonchalantly carried the crate on one shoulder seemingly without problem. "Looks like we're done here. Let's store our weapons in the locker."
"Kids these days, man." The armory staffs sighed in relief when Jaune and others gone out of their sight, they keep getting weirder and weirder.
Atlas Academy Library, 10:40 A.M.
"Are you telling me one of the most dangerous Grimm in Atlas are one and half foot tall suicidal penguins?" Jeanne asked incredulously, seemingly didn't believe Weiss' explanation.
"Yeah, until they shove their beak in your guts." Weiss deadpanned, "They're basically living torpedo, they are going to pursue you endlessly and in the moment of weakness, will use accumulated gas in their stomach to increase their speed tremendously-"
"Propelled by fart you mean." Neon corrected her, for sufficient value of correction that is.
Weiss decided to ignore the mischievous faunus, and continued her presentation. "A sufficiently lucky Leng has been know to pierce through a Bullhead's fuselage, that amount of impact going to knock good sum of your aura. And that's just one, as Lengs are known to come in packs of dozens or hundreds."
"Quantity over quality, huh." Neptune sagely held his chin. "I don't think we can outrun them, so what do we do?"
"Wide area attack." Weiss said, "Lengs are weak individually, so low intensity, wide area attack work the best." Weiss looked at the 3D hologram in front of her and manipulated it, "Furthermore, they're incapable of actual fighting so we should always go on the offensive."
"In other words, wipe them out when you see them." Neon clapped, "I guess that's just it?"
"So a colder climate version of Ursa, Beowolf, Leng, about three species that should be encountered for the most part?" Jeanne recounted the explanation. "Anything else?"
"Well, you might rarely fight the cold variant of Berlingel, a gorilla-shaped Grimm with extremely powerful strength for their size." Weiss shown the picture, a Grimm gorilla with spiky white fur that's actually made of bones. "But they're generally solitary creatures, so we will never see them in packs. And then, the most difficult to kill..."
A picture of black elephant with skeletal mask was shown. "The Goliath."
"...I've seen that one before." Jeanne's face turned serious, "And Weiss is right, it's really, really hard to kill. But they're slow, we should be able to outrun it easily if we find one."
"You've seen that before?" Weiss asked, somewhat skeptical.
Jeanne stood, gripped the sword on her waist tightly, "The problem of Goliath isn't that they're dangerous to us, but the amount of damage they can give and take, means you will need the heaviest arsenal you can find just to hurt it. We're not talking some peashooters stuff, we're talking the main cannon of a tank here."
"Jeez, talk about linebreaker." Neon winced, "No wonder it's classified as first class threat in the event of Grimm attack on people's settlements."
"It wouldn't hurt to prepare." Weiss said, "That's the exact reason why I brought two swords."
Not that she cared about these untrustworthy faunus. But especially Neon, who haven't shown slightest bit of positive traits in her so far. Jeanne at least DOES share ability to be serious when needed, similar to the familiar boy Weiss knew.
And thankfully she did, or else Weiss will be really annoyed.
"You mind if I ask something, Jeanne?" Weiss asked, "Do you have relations with the man named Jaune Arc?"
"How do you-"
But before Jeanne could ask where she heard that name, Weiss pointed at the entrance to the library, where Jaune stood there.
Jeanne slowly and surely stood, her lips quivered in shock. "...Jaune..."
Jaune faked a smile to hide his uneasiness, "Thought you actually went to Shade."
"Jaune you asshole!" Jeanne grinned widely, unable to hide her excitement as she stormed off and hugged him closely, their almost identical height made it a little bit easier. Jeanne's little sets of second ears fluttered in response to her happiness. "Man I missed you so much! You should have told me you're going here!"
That moment, Jaune swore to himself that maybe you would like to kill his mentor, or die trying. This has to be a deliberate ploy, more than a simple coincidence. Or not, it's not like his mentor have connection with his sister or anything.
Did he?
Penny tilted her head and asked frankly, "Sister?"
"How you would know?" Jeanne asked as she left her awkward brother alone.
"You have identical skull shape, though, the jawlines were a bit different." Penny pointed her own cheek. Okay that's creepy reasoning, more than anything else. With exception of Ciel, who just looked at Penny disapprovingly, others took a step away from Penny in horror. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You could've at least said that they have like, matching faces or something." Neon yelled, "What the heck is wrong with you?!"
"Shut up Katt, this is library." Weiss hissed.
"Man this has to be the weirdest group I stumbled into." Neptune quietly muttered to himself, "Not that I'm complaining."
From the looks of it, his life in Atlas academy will not be as boring as he expected. He couldn't wait to tell Sun everything about this academy.
つづく